{{short description|British palaeontologist}} {{use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
'''Victoria Louise "Tori" Herridge''', (born 1980), is a British palaeontologist who currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-04-11 |title=Herridge, Victoria, Dr |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/people/academic-staff/victoria-herridge |access-date=2025-05-28 |website=www.sheffield.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> and one of the founders of TrowelBlazers. She is a founding editor-in-chief at the open access journal ''Open Quaternary''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openquaternary.com/about/editorialteam|work=Open Quaternary|title=Editorial Team|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She has written about evolution of island mammals, the ethics of cloning mammoths, and the importance of studying the history of women in science.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Herridge |first1=Victoria |last2=Lister |first2=A.M.|title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |year=2012 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3200 |pmid=22572206 |pmc=3385739}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/dwarfism |title=Dwarfism in Animals on Islands |work=The Geological Society |date=11 September 2013|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/18/mammoth-cloning-wrong-save-endangered-elephants|title=Mammoths are a huge part of my life. But cloning them is wrong|last=Herridge|first=Tori|date=2014-11-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/mar/08/the-history-of-women-in-science-shows-us-the-fight-is-worth-it-international-womens-day|title=The history of women in science shows us the fight is worth it|last1=Hassett|first1=Brenna|date=8 March 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=21 October 2021|last2=Birch|first2=Suzanne Pilaar|issn=0261-3077|last3=Sykes|first3=Becky Wragg|last4=Herridge|first4=Victoria}}</ref> ==Career== Herridge graduated with a first class degree in biology from University College London in 2002. After a master's degree at Imperial College London, she returned to University College London to gain a doctorate with a thesis titled "Dwarf Elephants on Mediterranean Islands: A Natural Experiment in Parallel Evolution". Her research addressed evolution of island mammals during the Pleistocene period and their responses to extreme climate change.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Herridge |first1=Victoria |last2=Lister |first2=A.M.|title=Extreme insular dwarfism evolved in a mammoth |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |year=2012 | doi=10.1098/rspb.2012.0671 |volume=279 |issue=1741 |pages=3193–3200 |pmid=22572206 |pmc=3385739}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/dwarfism |title=Dwarfism in Animals on Islands |work=The Geological Society |date=11 September 2013|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She is a founding editor-in-chief at the open access journal ''Open Quaternary''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.openquaternary.com/about/editorialteam|work=Open Quaternary|title=Editorial Team|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref>
==Science communication== Herridge delivered the 2012 Charles Lyell Award lecture at the British Science Festival<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geosciencelines.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/british-science-festival-2012-focus-on-geoscience|title=British Science Festival 2012 – Focus on Geoscience|publisher=Geoscience Lines|date=29 August 2012|access-date=23 June 2014|archive-date=12 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112124644/http://geosciencelines.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/british-science-festival-2012-focus-on-geoscience/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and co-wrote ''Who Do You Think You Really Are?'' for the Natural History Museum. The film was a Premier Award Winner in 2011. As well as her academic output she is a popular science writer: her work includes a piece on the ethics of cloning mammoths versus the importance of saving endangered elephants, and one on the importance of studying the history of women in science (with Brenna Hassett, Suzanne Pilaar Birch and Becky Wragg Sykes), both published in ''The Guardian''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/18/mammoth-cloning-wrong-save-endangered-elephants|title=Mammoths are a huge part of my life. But cloning them is wrong|last=Herridge|first=Tori|date=2014-11-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-11-14|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/mar/08/the-history-of-women-in-science-shows-us-the-fight-is-worth-it-international-womens-day|title=The history of women in science shows us the fight is worth it|last1=Hassett|first1=Brenna|date=8 March 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=21 October 2021|last2=Birch|first2=Suzanne Pilaar|issn=0261-3077|last3=Sykes|first3=Becky Wragg|last4=Herridge|first4=Victoria}}</ref>
In November 2014 Herridge co-presented the Channel 4 documentary about the autopsy of the Maly Lyakhovsky Mammoth (aka "Buttercup").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/woolly-mammoth-the-autopsy|work=Channel 4|title=Woolly Mammoth: the Autopsy|date=23 November 2014|access-date=21 October 2021|archive-date=4 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204215402/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/woolly-mammoth-the-autopsy|url-status=dead}}</ref> She presented the 2016 Channel 4 series ''Walking Through Time'' and co-presented three series of ''Britain at Low Tide'' (2016, 2018 and 2019; series 1 with archaeologist Alex Langlands).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britain-at-low-tide|work=Channel 4|title=Britain at Low Tide|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Channel 4 announces two new commissions featuring Dr Tori Herridge|url=http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-announces-two-new-commissions-featuring-dr-tori-herridge|work=Channel 4|access-date=26 September 2016|date=15 June 2016|archive-date=27 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927145849/http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/channel-4-announces-two-new-commissions-featuring-dr-tori-herridge|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In January 2020 she presented ''Bone Detectives: Britain's Buried Secrets'' on Channel 4.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.channel4.com/programmes/bone-detectives-britains-buried-secrets|work=Channel 4|title=Bone Detectives: Britain's Buried Secrets|access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref> She was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme ''The Life Scientific'' in February 2025.<ref name="Herridge">{{cite web|title=Ancient dwarf elephants and frozen mammoths |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00289nr}}</ref>
In January 2026, she appeared on BBCs Digging For Britain as a co-presenter for the 13th series.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sheffield.ac.uk/biosciences/news/dr-tori-herridge-joins-bbc-digging-britain-team|title=Dr Tori Herridge joins BBC Digging for Britain team|date=12 January 2026|work=The University of Sheffield}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|https://toriherridge.com/}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Herridge, Victoria}} Category:British palaeontologists Category:British women paleontologists Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:British television presenters Category:Alumni of University College London Category:British women archaeologists